The Swedish opera star was the Taylor Swift of her time
'Twas a Nightingale Christmas,in a long bygone year, across cobblestoned alleys camethe welcome, “SHE’S HERE!”
Indeed, the great Jenny Lind, dubbed the “Swedish Nightingale” for a voice so glorious it brought admirers to tears if not to their knees—had arrived in Charleston to give not one, but three concerts during the Christmas week of 1850.
Denizens of the Holy City had been eagerly awaiting her arrival for months. In a brilliant advance publicity campaign of the North American tour that included 93 performances over 21 months, promoter P.T. Barnum had turned the 29-year-old soprano—beloved across Europe—into an international superstar. In what became known as “Lindomania,” Lind’s face and name adorned hundreds of promotional items marketed by Barnum and others, with the Jenny Lind “brand” on everything from sheet music to porcelain dolls to full-size Jenny Lind pianos. Putting this into a modern perspective, think of the term “Swiftie” to comprehend the scope of Lind’s fame. Now imagine Taylor Swift deciding to do three concerts in Charleston during the week of Christmas.
(Left) A caricature of the hoopla occasioned by Lind’s arrival in New York City in September 1850; (right) an 1848 daguerreotype of the European superstar by noted English photographer William Edward Kilburn, known for his portraits of the British Royal family.
Lind was the Taylor Swift, Beatles, and Elvis of her time. When she began her American tour in September 1850, it stood the country on end. Her arrival in New York was met by such a mob that police had to intervene. Thirty-thousand fans thronged the docks to see her disembark from the steamship Atlantic delivering her from Liverpool. Thousands more jammed the streets. It took police lines and billy sticks to keep them at bay and usher her safely to her hotel. To various degrees, she received similar receptions in Boston, Richmond, and Philadelphia.
On December 23, after a storm-tossed steamship passage from Baltimore (the voyage took 34 hours instead of the usual 17), as Lind and her seasick entourage arrived in Charleston, they fully expected to be mobbed again. But this was Charleston, even more gracious in 1850. The citizens were delighted to have the famed singer among them, but in keeping with the city’s well-mannered gentility, they gave her space.
Journalist Charles. G. Rosenberg, a member of Lind’s press corps, described in his book, Jenny Lind in America (Stringer & Townsend, 1851), how astonished they were to find Charleston “so different in its character from any city in the States which we had hitherto visited.” The streets were not a mass of humanity but “quiet and prim and orderly.” The old-town charm reminded Rosenberg of the historic capitals in Europe; it was the first place in America where “the tide of visitors had not set in upon her with such an alarming force as almost to imprison her in her own rooms.”
A Star Is Born: When P.T. Barnum of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus fame learned of Lind’s unique talent, he saw an opportunity to introduce the “Swedish Nightingale” to North America. She agreed to the tour but required an advance of $187,500—about $6 million today. Artists of the day created parodies of Barnum’s publicity campaigns for her concerts, which earned him sold-out shows and enormous profits.
In fact, Rosenberg wrote that more than once “I met her [Lind] wandering down to the Battery, with Mademoiselle Ahmansen [her friend] and Signor Beletti [her supporting baritone], or M. Hjortzberg [her private secretary], unattended and unpreceded by that crowd which would have dogged every step she took in Baltimore, Boston, or any other of the cities which she had previously visited.”
Lind was lodged at the elegant Charleston Hotel on Meeting Street. Her first concert had been deferred until the day after Christmas, giving her not only privacy but the enjoyment of spending the holiday with her personal entourage in her suite. Rosenberg recounted how she had been “vigorously occupied in decorating a tree for that period, in the fashion of Sweden, Denmark, and Northern Germany. It was embellished with candles” and surrounded by gifts. On Christmas Eve, she then shared this personal experience with the city by placing it in the window of her suite for all to see. Wrote The News & Courier on Christmas day, “…last evening at her lodgings (Charleston Hotel) a Forest Tree was placed at her window, decorated with variegated lamps, which attracted much attention.” An understatement, to be sure, considering Christmas trees were a relatively new tradition in the States.
Her concerts at the 1,200-seat New Charleston Theater were performed to sell-out audiences. Rosenberg wrote how, at first, the audience appeared to be “reserved and chilly.” Yet, he added, “this was but of brief duration. The feelings of those who listened to her melted rapidly away under the witchery of her brilliant tones, and the wondrous and refined melody of her voice, and as she concluded her last song, ‘The Herdsman’s,’ they found vent in one of the warmest and heartiest of possible shouts of approbation.”
In true Lind fashion, the superstar donated the proceeds of her third concert to multiple local charities (see sidebar); that astounding sum of $3,440 would equal approximately $140,000 today. This was a truly heartfelt generosity she insisted upon in every major city she played.
Poet Bayard Taylor penned the lyrics for “Greeting to America,” the $200-prize-winning song for Lind’s debut concert in the US. A highlight of her American shows was “The Herdsman’s Song,” also called “echo songs,” which showed off her vocal range.
Lind was not the only star to shine while in Charleston. Barnum, an outspoken teetotaler, was invited by the Total Abstinence Society to deliver an address on temperance at Hibernian Hall. “The night was dark and stormy,” wrote Rosenberg. “Nevertheless, a large audience assembled, which was entertained by him for considerably more than one hour and a half.”
The few days Lind had in Charleston was time well appreciated. “Mademoiselle Lind… appeared to rejoice in the temporary idleness which had been imposed upon her during the last few days…,” wrote Rosenberg. “One more evening she devoted to the friends she could assemble round her, ere she for the present quitted the United States.”
On January 2, Lind and her entourage boarded the Isabel for the voyage to Havana, her next engagement. Wrote Rosenberg, “It was bitterly chilly, and we had some difficulty in passing the bar, owing to the thick fog which had settled on the water… When I woke the third morning after quitting Charleston, I will confess that it was with something approaching to regret.”
The Swedish Nightingale had flown on but with fond memories. Her voice and kindness had certainly captured the love of Charlestonians.
In 1852, Lind married her second accompanist, Otto Goldschmidt. The couple (above with two of their three children) lived in Germany and England. She died in 1887 at age 67, bequeathing much of her wealth to help educate the poor.
The Swedish Nightingale made it a point to donate to many of the cities on her two-year tour. While in Charleston, she gave thousands of dollars to the following charities from the proceeds of her third concert:
Total $3,440 (This would equal nearly $140,000 today.)
WATCH: Celebrate Christmas 1850 in Charleston with Jenny Lind:
WATCH : P.T. Barnum and Jenny Lind’s North American Tour
Images by (Charleston sketch) Morphart Creation & courtesy of (3) Wikimedia Commons; images courtesy of (The second Deluge & Panorama of Humbug) Library of congress & (Barnum & Poster) Wikimedia Commons; images by (illustrations-2) Lucy Mylin & courtesy of (Charleston Hotel) Library of Congress & (New Charleston Theater) South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina; images courtesy of (Token, portrait, glass bottles print, & paper doll set) Wikimedia Commons & (Tobacco Pouch) Library of Congress; images courtesy of (lithograph) Library of Congress & (Etching) Private Collection; images courtesy of (prize song poster, “greeting to america” sheet music) Library of Congress, (“The Herdsman’s song”sheet music) Johns Hopkins, Sheridan Libraries, Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection, & (the couple & Goldschmidt family) wikimedia commons
